The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, 7 December, slammed the Opposition parties for politicising the recently passed farm laws and accused them of misleading farmers.
Statements from top BJP leaders came ahead of the Bharat Bandh, called on Tuesday, 8 December, amid continuous farmers' protest in Delhi.
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the political parties supporting protesting farmers reflect “double standards” and that they are opposing the Modi government just "for the sake of doing so."
“The Congress, in their 2019 manifesto, had promised to repeal the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act and make trade of agricultural produce including export free from all restrictions. In 2013, Rahul Gandhi had called a meeting of all Congress chief ministers and said Congress-ruled states should give farmers the right to sell directly. He said they will delist fruits and vegetables from the APMC and give free choice to farmers,” Prasad said, reported Hindustan Times.
Prasad Slams Sharad Pawar
Prasad took a dig at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who served as a former agriculture minister, stating that he wrote on private sector participation in market infrastructure during his tenure.
“He had written to then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that agricultural sector needs improvement and the market requires huge investment in marketing infrastructure including cold chain and private sector participation is essential...There was a standing committee that had Mulayam Singh Yadav as a member, which said it was necessary that farmers have to be set free from the bindings of the Mandis.”Ravi Shankar Prasad
Opposition Politicising Farm Laws: CM Yogi
Slamming the Opposition for supporting the farmers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that some political parties are trying to vitiate the atmosphere and their doublespeak on the issue of farmers should be exposed.
He added that the Opposition parties are placing their guns on the shoulders of the farmers to shoot at the government. He further stated that the stand taken by the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, on the APMC Act, have exposed the double standards of these parties.
Yogi was speaking at a press conference at his official residence in Lucknow on Monday.
“The Centre has taken revolutionary steps in agricultural reforms that safeguard the interests of the farmers. But the opposition is trying to spread misinformation to mislead the farmers. During the UPA regime, all these parties had announced their support to the APMC Act, but now they have taken a U-turn,” he said.
The CM further said that parties like Akali Dal, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party had supported the APMC Act, but now they are showing double standards, reported IANS.
"Those who are supporting the call for Bharat Bandh on Tuesday should apologise to the farmers for misleading them over the farm laws," he said.
(With inputs from IANS, Hindustan Times and PTI)
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